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Dear all,

We arrived home safely at about 8.30pm to a dark, wet night. The flight wasn't too horrendous - managed to doze a bit listening to Bryn Terfel and 16's recording of songs from the Tudors. We were just so fortunate to hear 16 live, performing in the heavenly accoustic of York Minster. It was exciting to catch up with them again on this leg of our journey. I also watched 'Ondine', the Irish film again, this time without sleeping and losing the thread of the story line. We eventually arrived in Melbourne and added all the extra layers of clothing. Roger and I rattled home in a Maxi Taxi but it was too dark to see much.
We left the central heating on all night to take the chill off the house. I am not on Australian time yet though have done a couple of loads of washing. We have to find what we have done with Roger's bag that was left home. I have probably put it in a safe place but am too tired to make an effective search.
Love to all
Jo and Rog

PS
It is now Sunday and I have had time to review my blogs with their numerous typos, grammatical and spelling mistakes. Hopefully, they are now fixed. Roger's lost bag has also reappeared. It was carefully hidden by me from thieves and us. We have had a wonderful time, far above expectations. I hope you have enjoyed reading my holiday ramblings; my first blog and the journal of our trip 2010.
Jo

Singapore Airport

Dear All,

Our journey is almost over even the @ is back in the right spot on the computer. We have spent much of the last couple of days in the air or at airports. Monday morning did some last minute gift shopping and posted thank you cards to our Jersey relatives. Our flight to Paris, in a little plane, took only about an hour. I even saw the wheels bounce on the tarmac. We negotiated our luggage to the shuttle bus that took us to our nearby hotel. This entailed a train link to Terminal 3. We dumped our luggage at the hotel and then took the shuttle back to explore Charles de Gaulle Airport. This was a very wise decision because the architecture of Terminal 2 in particular was stunning with obvious references to the shape of planes. The ceiling of the train station was also remarkable and was like an upside down Sydney Harbour Bridge. We had an expensive main course at the airport and then had sweets from the buffet of our hotel. I slept erratically not wishing to miss our flight. The morning shuttle bus took us to Terminal 3. However, we were now accomplished at finding our way to Terminal 1. I did a little shopping at the airport and boarded the plane without any mishaps. Have been on the plane for approximately thirteen hours and caught up on three good films in a row; 'The Changling' , 'The Race' and 'Grand Torino'. I watched another but dozed off so may watch it again on the next flight as I didn't really follow the plot. The plane was hot towards the end so am hoping for a more comfortable flight to Melbourne. I shall Blog next from 108 all being well.

love to all

See you soon
Jo and Rog

Sunday Jersey

This is our last day in this beautiful part of the world, a place that is so significant to Roger's heritage. This morning we wandered around Green Street Cemetery and found some de Carteret graves. Yesterday Philip de Carteret had told us that many had been vandalized over the years. Later we drove to St. Clements to Samares Manor garden. This was large but was not up to what we had seen in UK. It was good in parts but too often viewpoints were lost by unattractive buildings or signs. Roger decided just to sit in the car and read Phoenix's email about the graves. This was probably a wise decision. They had a nursery with a plant sale so I bought a pretty amber rose for Adele and Philip which should tone in nicely with the manor's stone walls. I showed them my painting and Adele asked whether it was for sale. I hadn't considered selling it but was delighted that I will now have a painting at St Ouen's. Philip and Adele are such a lovely couple and so welcoming of the poor relations from the antipodes. They also had a doctor from Sth. Africa for lunch. He has been doing a locum in Jersey. Adele has lived in Sth. Africa and she and Philip now spend the Jersey winter there. We had a magnificent lunch of lobster prawns and crab followed by strawberries. We were then given a grand tour of the Manor, Bruce, the doctor, a neighbour of theirs in Sth. Africa had not visited previously so our tour was very comprehensive. The wood panelling in the grand hall is particularly impressive with each panel individually designed, many with interestingly stylized figures while other have floral motifs. The stained glass windows are beautiful and the very large house has numerous paintings including Lely portraits. As well as paintings they have a vast collection of squirrel ornaments, plaques and sculptures as a squirrel appears on the de Carteret coat of arms. As well as the remarkable history everything is beautifully presented and homely. Adele is an excellent interior designer and the dining room is a beautiful rose colour that complements the framed documents and the dark portraits.
We had a lovely afternoon. I spent about half an hour refining the painting while Roger had a nap in the sitting room. They were very happy with the painting - probably they may have been happy with it as it was but to me it just needed a few modifications. It was about six when we returned home. We walked to The Goose for soup and ice-cream but I probably could have done without anything after our magnificent lunch.
Have been packing most of the night. It is a pity brochures weigh so much. We hope we are underweight but don't have scales to check but may ask Maz in the morning. Our flight is about 1.15pm but will go to the airport early.
There is much that we have not done here but this time has been made special by social occasions with Roger's distant cousins. We hope we may be able to meet again either in Jersey or Australia.
Our wonderful trip is now virtually over. We fly to Paris for an overnight stopover before making the mammoth flight back home. Hopefully, we will survive but we may not surface for a few days.

I hope you have enjoyed my waffle. I have mostly blogged very late at night so hope it has made sense and that you have been able to travel vicariously with us just as I have done with several of my friends' writings.

Looking forward to catching up with all the news from Oz and meeting you soon.
love
Jo and Rog

Jersey, Saturday

Dear All,
We had this morning free before meeting Roger's cousin for nibbles. After breakfast we had a short drive to St.Aubins. We had walked there and back on the first night. We have since realized what an effort this must have been as the drive there seems very long. However, it was lovely on the promenade above the beach. The tides are incredible in Jersey with the water disappearing for a very long way and boats stranded on dry or muddy flats in the harbour. At night the coast line is lit by light globes strung right around the beach front from St.Helier St.Aubins. This looks very pretty.
This morning at St.Aubins we visited their Saturday market but there was nothing of interest. Afterwards went to the Harbour Gallery which had some interesting craft and jewellery but most things were very expensive. Afterwards we headed to Corbiere to view the lighthouse. On the way stumbled across a car boot sale (more my scene) and picked up some earrings and a dahlia as a present for Katrina and Chas who were hosting the afternoon event. Afterwards we went to Reg's garden which had a fete with treasure. The garden was beautifully planted but to me the aviaries and shed roof tops wrecked the vistas. (Hopefully, we may visit Samares Manor Garden tomorrow morning.) We had just enough time for us to meet Phil and Angie at The Goose - the pub near us. We were surprised that they had come by taxi but when we saw the narrow private driveway down a steepish hill with long drops on the side we understood. Katrina and Chas have a beautiful stone house with a part of it converted from stables. The back garden is totally surrounded by trees and the beautifully mown green lawns enhance the stunning woodlands. In Spring it must really look wonderful.
We had such a lovely time. Katrina and Chas have a severely physically disabled daughter of sixteen but she has recently successfully completed her o level including French which is no mean achievement when she has to dictate everything.
We arrived back at the hotel at about 5.00pm. I decided we should explore more of Jersey. Our road trip took us firstly to Gorey. We didn't climb Mt.Orgueil castle
but the area is a very pictuesque little fishing port. We headed North through St. Clement, St.Catherine, St.Mary and St.Martin. We also went through Trinity too hoping to find a Gallery that we had seen on our travels last night. Eventually found it - but although it looked impressive no opening times were displayed and
there was little information elsewhere so we may have to give it a miss. Next door
to this gallery tucked back from the road and behind a hedge was a restaurant- Oakland's Lodge. We were both quite hungry but not as hungry as they envisaged with their huge serves. The food was excellent. Roger had sizzling prawns while I chose
sole stuffed with spinach and prawns with a lobster sauce. They were served with royal potatoes, a speciality of Jersey, and vegetables or salad. After all our wanton driving for hours before tea we were cleverly able to travel directly to our guest house without any extra scenic tours. So here I am blogging at an almost decent hour and putting off sorting through papers and pamphlets for the final cull.
We have had a wonderful time. Hopefully, tomorrow will also enable us to experience more as well as enjoying our time in the Manor.

Love to all
Hope to see you soon
Jo and Rog

Friday, Jersey

Dear All,
Today had a sunny start but by the end of breakfast the clouds had rolled in. By the time we got down to the car it was pouring. Roger was doing the buses again today and I had hoped to paint. We decided to persevere with these plans as the weather is pretty changeable here. I decided to drive aimlessly for a while discovering new vistas and picturesque spots. Jersey is only 9 x 5 miles so you can work out where you are once you hit the sea. I eventually arrived at St.Ouen's Manor. It was still drizzling so chatted to Philip and Adele before making a late start. The rain soon cleared. After lunch it became sunny so had to rig up Roger's Dunblane umbrella for shade. At times had to battle with the wind too as the umbrella tried to become a parachute. Have practically finished the painting but to me it needs some refinements. I may take my paints to play after Sunday lunch at the manor if I can.
I met up with Roger a little later than I had planned because of my late start. Threw a shirt over my painting gear so looked a bit better and OK for the Zoo. This is the first time we have visited The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Centre but they have special twilight rates for summer so decided to go. This zoo specializes in preserving endangered species. We were impressed with the zoo and the beautiful environment in which the animals were placed. The pink flamingoes were like ballet dancers and the monkeys were so cute and the snakes huge. At the zoo I noticed a poster for a concert tonight. Decided we would try to go. I phoned for seats but the booking office had closed. We decided to risk it and just turn up at the school. We were not that far away but had not allowed for the dreadful business of finding our way around st.Helier with its maze of one way streets. Eventually, after many wrong turns, we found the school. The concert had started but an usher let us in from the back. Once again the musical magic that has followed us throughout this trip continued. We were in The Great Hall, Victoria College Jersey just like a Harry Potter movie listening to "Collegium Regale", the men of King's College Cambridge without the trebles - a bit like the "King,s Singers". Their singing was very accomplished with interesting and sometimes amusing arrangements of popular songs and Negro Spirituals as well as pieces from the ancient music and twentieth century repertoire. It was a most enjoyable evening and something we hadn't planned. We hadn't eaten except for a Jersey ice cream so ended up having a very late tea - Chinese take-away in our room as everything around our area closes at 10.30pm. Tomorrow we socialize with the cousins.
All the best
love Jo and Rog

Botanica Tour Ends

On our last day at Bath we visited two gardens. We had a beautiful walk around the pictureque landscape of Stourhead gardens with it follies and classical temples and bridges reflected in the still water of the lake. This had similarities to the Wilderness areas of Hestercombe gardens and the grand landscapes of Blenheim Palace. It also had remarkable rock grottos with sculptures spot lit by daylight from above. This is the most visited garden in England and it vistas are clearly recognizable. Afterwards we travelled to Montisfont Abbey which was also set on a grand estate. The trees were magnificent many of remarkable size. It houses the National Collection of roses but I felt it was past its best and needed much maintenance and deadheading. The lavender hedges however, were very impressive. A bonus of this visit was an exhibition of Beatrix Potter's drawing and quite an impressive collection of paintings. There was along queue for the exhibition but it was worth seeing. I was a little disappointed that the drawings were not placed chronologically as you worked from resolved later works to her earliest attempts. The detail and careful observations, however, made for a special show. We returned to Bath passing Wilton House which we would visit later for The Bournemouth Symphony's "Classic Spectacular"and viewing Salisbury Cathedral from afar and Stone Henge and its trail of tourists from the bus. Tea was at the hotel and tonight wine was provided. Sara, Phil and Julie were thanked and we were so fortunate with them all. I was given the task of making a small speech for Julie. She is doing work experience at Hidcote and Sissinghurst which will be an amazing opportunity. I am sure we will see her again at Heronswood. The next day we rose early to depart for London and Hampton Court Palace. This extremely hot day was noteable more for the heat and the crowds rather than the beauty of the exhibits. I think that Melbourne's flower and garden shows are on a more achievable scale and I now have no desire to see Chelsea or Hampton Court shows in the future. This was the end of our Botanica Tour. I have blogged on this day in London so now at last have completed the saga of the gardens grand tour, a very happy time for both of us.
This tour was beyond expectation, Our guide and leader, Sara was most impressive and we were very fortunate to benefit from her extensive knowledge and share her love of gardens. It was fortunate to see so many superb gardens and enjoy the friendship of the other participants. Thankyou Margaret, Jim, Jan and Robert for being such excellent travelling companions.
Sorry the blog of the garden tour took so long to complete. Unfortunately details have been lost with time. However, now that I have easy access to a computer, I should be able to finish our happenings in Jersey at the end of each day.
Love to all
Jo and Rog

Jersey Thursday

Dear All,
After breakfast I bought lunch at a nearby supermarket for my painting day at St. Ouens. Roger purchased a day bus ticket and headed to St.Helier. We had arranged to meet at 6.00pm. We were in phone contact thanks to Telstra who seem to have fixed the error problem on my phone. I started painting about 10am. Had a break before lunch and had a long chat with Adele and Philip. My painting is progressing quite well. It became quite hot and I tried to rig up Roger's big Dunblane umbrella without much success. Within half an hour I needed it for shelter. We had a very heavy shower and I was forced to abandon painting for the day. Rang Roger and arranged to meet at Jersey Museum at St.Helier near the wharf. Found another multi level car park - the one I had used in 2007 and was able to find my way around easily. We didn't go to the Museum last time but it is well set out. It has an 18th century house set up as it would have been at the time. On level one was The Jersey Story which looked at the history from paleolithic times to the present day including the de Carteret support of the English monarchy. There was also a Marilyn Monroe exhibition that showed many of her costumes. This was quite interesting particularly after recently viewing the Grace Kelly collection at The V&A. There was another exhibition by a Jersey illustrator and Graphic designer Edmund Blampied working from the 20s. By the time I arrived in St.Helier the day had reverted to summer though not long afterwards there was another short burst of rain. We had tea in St. Helier and then decided to go for a drive. We saw some beautiful countryside and stunning sea views of St.Brelade Bay. Am much better on the indicators today.
Hopefully will be able to finish the painting tomorrow.

Back to completing blog of the 'Grand Tour'.
All the best
Jo and Rog

Botanica

Walked up stairs last night and the memories of Sudely Castle that had eluded me at the computer came flooding back.
After Hidcote I was not expecting much from any other garden. However, Sudely was a real castle on huge grounds. Much of it was in a ruinous state but rather than being an eye sore it looked enchanting with climbing plants growing over the decorative stone wall and huge herbaceous borders making the overall effect quiet romantic. They also had an exhibition of contemporary sculpture in the grounds. To me some of them were too pristine white for the setting but others looked beautiful. The one that stood out was a pouring jug with a metal structure made up of coal like pieces making a stand for the jug though it appeared like liquid coming from the jug and flowing over the landscape. A photographer made an excellent book of all these sculptures at Sudely. I was amazed at how much better they looked through the camera's lens. This garden was not particularly well maintained but the bones of the garden were most impressive. They also had aviaries of exotic birds. We returned for our last night in Oxford and enjoyed a very pleasant meal with good company. The food at Oxford was outstanding though our room was small.
The next morning we travelled to Warwick Castle, an amazingly well preserved structure which was built by orders of William the Conquerer and evolved over the centuries. They had a very clever reenactment in the castle where they combined wax models and real actors to create the illusion that you were part of a Royal Weekend party in the 18th Century. The gardens were not particularly a feature of the castle though there was a presentable rose garden. Later we lunched at Stratford Upon Avon before a longish drive through the Cotswolds to Bath. We made a short stop in a delightful Cotswold village that I now don't remember but it had many lovely shops and the best ever creamy strawberry ice-cream. In Bath we stayed at the Hilton in a 70s building that lacked character, however, it was situated in the centre of town in an excellent position. The restaurant was also lovely having a beautiful view along the river. The food was outstanding too. After tea on the first night Roger and I had a long walk looking for an Internet Cafe. At that stage I had not discovered the value of libraries which was a pity because the Bath library was very close to our hotel. Our long walk was not fruitful though we found places with computer facilities available during the day. The walk however, was very pleasant, particularly along the river. The long twilight makes for lovely evenings and you feel safe walking around late at night.
The next day we visited Hestercombe in the morning. It was a lovely drive. We firstly went on a ramble around the wild landscape. We then saw the collaboration of Sir Edwin Lutyens an architect and Gertrude Jekkle, a plants woman. There had been much building and changes of levels to make beautifully balanced gardens that combined water, structures and plants. The house itself was unimpressive and appeared to have developed in an ad hoc way. The facade was better as it was largely covered in creeper. The joy was in the formal garden although not at its best in a season with limited rain. The garden is created on many levels and complements the beauty of the fields beyond. The estate was huge and landscapes had been created to appear naturalistic, reflecting the Classical landscape paintings of Claude Lorrain. We returned to Bath and drove past the impressive Regency Circus and Crescent. I used my free afternoon to blog. This turned into an expensive time thanks to my very slow typing. This was our free night for dinner however, we all decided to eat together at restaurant in Bath that was owned by a celebrity chef who specialises in using locally grown organic produce. The food was excellent and it was a most pleasant evening. Must do a search of the numerous brochures to find the name of the restaurant.

Hope all is well at home
love to all Jo and Rog

Jersey, Wednesday

Dear all,
After breakfast walked to where we were had planned to meet the cousins at 1.00pm. This pub was very close to us but in the opposite direction to St.Aubin where we had walked previously. We found it easily. Afterwards we went back to the guest house to pick up the car for a drive to St.Helier. I decide it wasn't worth trying to paint before our meeting so wanted to fill in the morning. Thought we may have had a quick look at the Gallery and Museum but ended up just driving around St.Helier looking for a car park. After eventually finding a multistoreyed car park we walked around the shops to get the feel of the city. Afterwards we took a very long time trying to escape the maze of one way streets to find the coastal highway heading west. Eventually we realized it was west that we were looking for and a few familiar land marks set us on track. We arrived back just in time for our rendevous but not with out panic and stupid windscreen wipers working overtime! It was lovely meeting Philip, Chas and Katrina de Carteret again after twenty two years. Didn't really remember them after all this time but remembered things that we had done. We are looking forward to going to Chas and Katrina's place on Saturday afternoon- possibly some other brothers may be present too but it looks as if they will probably be away at this time. Roger's great grand father- Philip Vaudin and their great grandfather Frederick were brothers. I hope I have that correct. Roger's great grand father was an architect who came to Australia in the landboom of the 90s. Tragically, he fell from a construction site and died in his 40s- (there is something about these accident prone de Carteret men-even Philip Malet de Carteret St.Ouen's manor lost an eye in a university tennis accident and Rog's dad, Reg had an altercation with a bus in his youth.) Anyway the sad incident meant that Roger's grand father had to leave school at 14 started work as a builder. This tradition of building and architecture has continued through the generations. Anyway we are looking forward to Saturday. Apparently Chas and Katrina have a beautiful garden which is at its best in Spring. On Sunday we are dining at the Manor if they can find lobster otherwise we will take
them out as it is our turn. This afternoon Roger found a hairdresser and smartened up his appearance. He was beginning to look like a bush ranger, so it is good to see him spruced up for our social happenings.
Roger didn't want to come to St.Ouens with me and I think he had a snoozette in the lounge at Ocean Walk. I probably only painted for a couple of hours because it started to sprinkle with the gentlist of misty rain. It has been in the early 20s today and very pleasant. Was pleased that I found St.Ouens without needing to refer to the map or ask directions - am making progress.
Had tea at The Goose where we had met the others for drinks. This pub is not unlike those at home but the food was reasonable - I had a fish pie and we only had to walk a short distance. Walked along the beach where they have a wide walking footpath and another bike only lane that you walk on at your peril. Put on the TV when we got back to our room to hear an Australian accent talking about Philip Island penguins. There was a whole programme on this but did not catch what it was. I had to fill in half an hour. Now have competition for the computer. There are some young German tourists who have begun to threaten my monopoly. We are both tired today- Roger is upstairs probably sleeping by now and I hope to blog for a while to complete the missing episodes of the grand tour.
Love to all
Jo and Rog

Garden Tour remembered

Dear all,
Trying to fill the gaps. Our 'grand tour' visiting UK gardens was beyond expectation. Travelling in such a small group of like minded people was so much fun that we opted to have dinner together even on the nights when nothing had been arranged by Botanica. We only ate separately once and this was in Oxford. Oxford was where I last blogged on tour.
After returning from Blenheim we had a free afternoon. Roger was happy to rest for a while. I had seen advertised an exhibition of Howard Hodgkin at Modern Art Oxford. There were twenty four paintings of various sizes responding to Time and Place. Many had painted frames as Night and Day at the NGV. I think we are very fortunate with the colour of our painting. This exhibition was a bonus. Afterwards I met Roger for evensong which I had been told started at 4.00pm. This was incorrect as it was not till 6.00pm. Wasted time in between by looking at shops. It was not till later that I discovered an Internet cafe. We queued for Evensong at Christ Church and were fortunate to hear the last performance of the choir before their term break. The singing was glorious. It was interesting that both the Wesleys had studied at Christ Church in the 1720s and were ordained in this cathedral. We had tea in a traditional little pub with much character. I left Roger there to finish coffee and sweets slowly while I went to play on a computer in a basement Internet Cafe. We eventually met again and walked three quarters of the way home before I realized Roger didn't have his stick. Ran back and although I didn't see it immediately found that Roger had neatly placed it on the window sill so the walking stick is still with us. This stick has been useful for him on the uneven ground and enables him to look at more than just his feet.
The next morning we visited Hidcote, my favourite garden with lush plantings and flowers of great height, quite remarkable when compared to their Australian cousins. This garden has obviously been of great inspiration to Jeremy at Cloudehill. Once again trimmed yew trees featured but the contrast in colour and texture were brilliant through out. This was exquisitely designed and shows the borders at their
best in the climate for which they were designed. Need to do some revision before completing the blog. It is so difficult revisiting the tour two weeks after the event. Need some help to remember Sudely Castle gardens. Shall have some sleep and do some revision and hopefully complete the last five gardens before I arrive home

Cheers Jo and Rog

Jersey

Dear All,
I now have a computer in Ocean Walk lounge overlooking St.Aubin's Bay that no one else seems to require. It is free too!
We started today slowly - much washing to do after our days on the move. Managed to contact the Malet de Carterets by phone and caught up after lunch to start painting. It was great to meet them again. They are such a lovely couple. The walled garden is pretty but has suffered from a hot, dry summer. I decided that it was going to be too hot to paint there today so opted for a view of St.Ouen's Manor seen through a shady tree and with a large clump of hydrangeas in the foreground. Adele lent me an old chair so painted in a very pleasant spot in perfect conditions. This evening it has started to rain so am unsure whether I will be painting tomorrow. Even used the windscreen wipers legitimately tonight rather than because I was turning right or left. Wouldn't you think that they would have adopted the same side for wipers in all vehicles. Anyway many bad words have passed my lips as the windscreen wipers merrily dance across the windscreen. Jersey driving isn't too bad as the maximum speed limit is 30mph so there is a little thinking time. Have done a few scenic routes on the way to the manor but you can't go too far wrong as the sea is not too far away to get you back on track. I painted from about 2 to 5pm and have made some progress. We had tea at Pedros, a little restaurant in St.Aubin. Had seen their sign
with special half lobster so decided to indulge and taste the Jersey catch. This was lovely but the poor little lobster was not much bigger than a yabbie. It is 9.30 pm and dark so it is a noticeable change from our recent past and obvious that we are now much further south. Have managed to contact Roger's closest cousins in Jersey - they are from the Trinity branch too. We had emailed but had difficulty with all the additional codes required but finally all is settled. Tomorrow we will make our first contact since a reunion in '88. Rog is watching TV in bed and hopefully listening for tomorrows forecast. Am not impressed with BBC weather they spend a huge amount of time letting you know the weather at 9.00am and you are forced to watch intently to see the area that is of particular interest to you. This takes great concentration rather than being able to glance and get the important info you require. Today's blog has ended so will attempt to fill in those days long ago on our excellent garden tour.

Thinking of you all
All the best
love Jo and Rog

Greetings from Ocean Walk St Brelade Jersey

Dear All,
We have had some wonderful musical treats since last blogging. I now have access to a computer at our delightful guest house overlooking St.Aubin's Bay. I don't even need to find the library or an expensive Internet cafe. There is much to report.
Roger and I both loved York. After my blogging experience at the library we decided to do the gallery first as it was just around the corner. Was not expecting much of a Regional Gallery so was pleasantly surprised. The current exhibition on Chinese art- China: Journey to the East linked historic ceramic with contemporary works in particular that of a photographer of Chinese descent working in York. The permanent collection was arranged thematically and though it didn't have a huge number of well known works it had some paintings of major UK artists from the present and past including several Hogarth paintings and Henry Moore landscapes. They also had a high keyed French landscape of Charles Conder who they said went to school in Australia - I don't think they quite understood The Heidelberg School. Afterwards we intended going to The Railway Museum on the bus and assumed that the bus on the other side of the road would take us back where we started. The driver said that this wasn't so but told us if we stayed on her bus it would eventually take us there. We decided to
do this and rested on a tour of suburban York - a very attractive city with recently built house like those in Country Life as well as historic buildings. Roger wasn't all that keen on doing the Railway Museum but as I had expected - he really enjoyed it when there. The steam trains are so massive and they also had a Japanese Bullet train and the Eurostar train of our trip across the Channel. The Royal carriages were also beautifully fitted out - palaces on wheels. Afterwards we went to The Jorvik Centre which showed evidence of Viking history including finds from architectural digs. They have also recreated a Viking town. You ride on a cable car type vehicle that takes you on a tour of the village. We enjoyed the experience and it was also good to sit. We then wandered around York and had an early tea so that we could queue for the best seats for the concert at York Minster. The day before we were only able to purchase unallocated seats so it was first in for best seats in the side aisle. We managed to get front row seats with limited vision of the choir but at least I was able to see the conductor and the sopranos and hear the wonderful music. This was one of the most marvellous concerts I have ever heard. I was unfamiliar with their work but apparently The Sixteen directed by Harry Christophers are world renowned in Early Music circles and have performed everywhere including Sydney Opera House. Their sound was just thrilling it was so clear and beautiful and appeared to float to heaven in the acoustics of the magnificent cathedral. The programme The Choral Pilgrimage is performed in several of UK's major cathedrals and features music of the Tudors. They performed works by Byrd, Tallis and Sheppard. We sat next to two lovely couples. We chatted to one who had worked in Australia in the 70s. before the concert. At interval the other lady next to us offered to give us her slightly better seats as she was a local. People have just been so kind. As well as the brilliant singing there was a fellow who was signing the concert for the deaf and it was almost as if he was performing a dance and was fascinating to watch. It still stays light till very late so walked through the attractive streets across the bridge over the river through the walls of the old city to the station bus stop that took us to our excellent hotel. We then packed for our early morning trip to London.
After breakfast we caught the bus to the station. We arrived earlier than expected so managed to get on an earlier train than we had booked. We were fine getting seats. First class is the way to go! It is so good to be a Senior! Once again chatted to interesting people, a couple, the husband was studying environmental science and his wife an archaeaologist and they were off to London for an engagement party.
After arriving at Kings Cross, we walked to near by St.Pancras and picked up our luggage from left luggage.This was an expensive act but saved us must energy. We took a taxi to Waterloo station for our train to Salisbury. Once again by chance arrived just in time for the train. We arrived at Salisbury about 2pm. Took a taxi to The Old Rectory B and B. This was a lovely place but a little bit away from the centre of town. Our room was upstairs so decided to leave our big cases down stairs and spend another day living out of our cabin bags. (Thanks Julie for the excellent training when I travelled with you and Sue for 10 days on the school trip through Japan with a smallish back pack, though wheelie cabin bags are even better.) I guess we were lucky that the weather up north was relatively cool. Salisbury was warmer but we needed all our winter clothes by the end of the concert at Wilton House. We walked to the Cathedral which was quite a long walk. The cathedral is the tallest in Northern Europe. Although plainer than York it had several contemporary additions that added to the Gothic structure . It had an eternity baptismal font with the flat water beautifully reflecting the vaulted ceiling. There was also a vibrant blue stained glass windows behind the altar that was designed in 1980. This was a Prisoners of Conscience Window and an Amnesty candle always burns in the corner of this Trinity Chapel. We also viewed the Magna Carta 1215 in the Chapter House. After the Cathedral I shopped at Marks and Spencers for our picnic tea while Roger waited in The Mall. Our landlady had offered us folding chairs to take to the concert in the grounds of Wilton House owned by The Earl of Pembroke. I was exhausted but knew Roger was worse. I left Roger with our picnic goodies at the bus stop and I walked back for the chairs. I returned in time for a local bus to take us to Wilton House. There were several others obviously going too. We were so lucky not only that this coincided with our one night in Salisbury but because the concert on the night before had practically been washed out and our landlady who had tickets decided not to go. It was a longish way to Wilton House, a huge historic house with a beautiful Palladian villa set in the vast estate. We were glad of the chairs. There was a huge crowd at this Classical Extravaganza by The Bournemouth Symphony. They performed in a temporary Sound Shell structure but the sound was good. The conductor Michael Woods was an Australian who had studied in Sydney. ( I hope that name is correct as I have mislaid the programme. ) The compare and soloist was Stephen and his wife Clare Rutter also sang duets and solos. Both were excellent. The orchestra performed popular classical works by themselves or with the singers. The last works were choreographed with lighting dancing on the trees and an impressive fireworks show. The fireworks accompanied the music rather than being an additional finale as at The Myer Bowl. We were cold but had a wonderful experience. We caught the bus back with many others, thankfully avoiding a very expensive taxi fare. This was another wonderful experience for us. The landlady said that we were the first tourists that had stayed with her who had managed to get tickets for the annual concert. Coincidently, the landlady came from Freemantle and her children still live Australia
Next morning we caught a taxi to the station, it cost £4 but saved a lot of effort with our big cases. The train trip was good though Roger was in the toilet when the train pulled into Southampton so we just managed to get off in time. We caught the train to Weymouth - our last Britrail journey. This was a great way to travel. Was so relieved that this leg of our journey worked out so well. It took hours of planning but would go this way again. Our accommodation at Weymouth was excellent. Alendale Guest House has won awards in the three star category.Weymouth is a very pretty seaside town and once again we did lots of walking. At the beach on flag poles were two Austalian flags (we could have done with them at the concert the night before). Don't know why they were there. We visited a museum at an old brewery but it was its quality as a typical seaside town with its Punch and Judy and stalls that made it so enchanting. We had a late Sunday lunch in a pub by a little harbour and were rowed to it in a little row boat - this saved a longer walk. Had an Italian meal near our guest house and an early night. We enjoyed a gourmet breakfast mostly with local Dorset fare. The couple had lived in Sydney in the 70s so we had vegemite on our toast for the first time in five weeks.
We caught a taxi to the Ferry Terminal for a pleasant, smooth crossing to Jersey. We stopped at Guernsey but we did not get off as our cases were headed to Jersey. The car was there waiting. I now have to get used to those dreadful wipers being on the wrong side - had forgotten about that nuisance - wouldn't you think they could have made this uniform on all cars. Anyway have found our guest house without too much difficulty. It overlooks St. Aubin Bay though we have a quiet room at the back. The landlady is lovely and the guest house is perfect for us . Our room is up several flights of stairs but will be fine until we have to take our cases down. We have had our exercize for today. Anyway we achieved that task and have also done lots of washing. Had a beautiful fish tea in a little restaurant,overlooking a picturesque harbour. The tides are huge here so this time it was without water. Roger and I walked to the cafe on a path above the beach. Roger is in bed now while I finish this. I think the time may have changed by an hour- if the computer is right so will have to check tomorrow. We do not wan't to miss breakfast.
Hope to get out the paints soon though have had difficulty contacting people but will ask the landlady about local telephone codes etc.
Am now up to date except for several days including my favourite gardens on our grand tour.

See you soon (just over a week, all being well)
Hope all is OK in Australia
Glad to be missing some of the pre election happenings
Love to all
Jo and Rog

York

Dear all,
The Railway Museum doesn't open till 10am so found by chance a bus that took us to the York Library. It has only taken ten minutes to find my account on the blog site. After blogging yesterday had our usual lunch. This time we had pumpkin soup with goat cheese balls. This was very tasty. We ate at the top of the Baltic Centre with magnificent views over Newcastle on Tyne, the river and Gateshead. The toilets also had floor to ceiling windows with several separate washbasins in rectangular stone blocks that didn't interrupt the view too much. We caught the bus to the station just in time to catch the London train to York. Found seats and chatted to a couple from Stirling apparently the train starts in Inverness. Arrived in York mid afternoon and caught a bus to our hotel. Thank heavens this time it is classy and has a bus stop outside. We had a beautiful breakfast. It also has a gracious lounge and separate bar. Our room is spacious and beautifully furnished. Has a deep spa bath, but didn't work out how to operate it last night but had a good soak which helps the legs. In the afternoon walked around York and went to a superb evensong in York Minster where the choir sang for almost the whole service- they must have sung for at least half an hour. This was very beautiful as you can imagine. We have also booked tickets for a choral concert at the Cathedral tomorrow night. We have just been so lucky that so often we have been in the right spot at the right time. The only disappointment was to miss the NGV of Scotland Impressionists' Garden Exh next month. After evensong we wandered around York - found the Shambles and then had typical English fare of Yorkshire pudding with bacon, sausages and kidneys served like a pie with vegetables.
Lots to do today.
Hope all is well in Australia.
Love to all
Happy travellers -
Jo and Rog

From Gateshead Newcastle on Tyne.

Yesterday was very wet. After blogging quickly visited Dunblane Cathedral, opposite the Chimes, before grabbing our umbrellas and coats for our walk to the station in the rain. There are no local taxis in the village. Fortunately just as we turned the corner the local bus came by so hailed him rather than walking 10 minutes in the rain. Once again he didn't charge. We caught our last train to Edinburgh and a lady on the train said you were at the pub last night. She was actually the violinist in the folk group so it was great to have a chat. apparently it is just a loose group that turn up on a Tuesday to practice. She is classically trained and the older guitarist and flautists have been professional player and the singer with the beautiful clear soprano voice had studied music in Glasgow and also conducted a choir in Dunblane. This was just another of the wonderful occurrences on this trip. Our day in Edinburgh familiarized us with Scottish Mists and we required our rain coats and umbrellas for most of the day. this prevented us doing the Botanic gardens. We had a gallery day. We decided not to leave our cases at Waverley as it was £7 for each case. This was a wise decision as there was a free cloak room at The Nat Gall of Scotland. After our soup lunch in a lovely bright cafe overlooking Princess St gardens. The permanent gallery had some famous paintings by Titian, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Monet, Seurat and Cezanne. We also saw more works of the Glasgow Boys. We then walked a block away to catch a bus to the two modern galleries. At Dean Gallery, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art there was a special Surrealist Exhibition- Another World: Dali, Magritte, Miro and the Surrealists. This was very comprehensive but Roger's energy levels had waned. I was interested to see a number of Max Ernst's frottage works ( rubbings) as well as Dali's later works. It was very densely hung and the whole gallery of several floors contained this exhibition. It also revealled the influence of Surrealism on later artists. We then walked over the road to another part of the Modern Gallery which had an exhibition celebrating the 50th birthday of this gallery. There were many works by well known modern artists including Rouault, Leger and Lichtenstein but probably didn't do it justice as we had both run out of energy. Caught bus back to near the other gallery. Had afternoon tea with the most delicious lemon drizzle cake. Collected bags and wheeled our bags to station. Had not checked train times but the information guy said one was leaving in 5 mins. Had a fantastic trip with a lovely couple from Lincoln. Newcastle is not the place to visit despite articles in travel mags. Our Bently hotel was a bad choice. It was clean but very tiny and in a very ordinary area. It was also up two flights without a lift. I must have had a bad day when I selected this, hopefully York will be better. It wasn't even close to the station. This morning caught a bus to Central station - no Tourist Information so had to drag our cases to the centre of town. Got a bus to Gateshead and took photos of the Millennium Bridge and the mini Sydney Harbour one and The Sage Concert Hall, a stunning modern building. The Baltic Summer Season has centred around artists and music. Once again we encountered Cornelia Parker and her Perpetual Canon which features squashed brass instrument which are in a circle and cast interesting shadows. The other works were confusing but the gallery was worth a visit and was the source of this freeInternet. Now we have a train ride to York for two nights.

Having a great time
Love to all
Jo and Rog

Dunblane

Dunblane Library on a very wet morning.
Two days ago we were in Glasgow. After a blogging session at the modern gallery we went to Kelvingrove Art gallery and Museum on the hop on hop off bus. Kelvingrove is a magnificent building. We had lunch - soup and a bread roll - (our standard lunch) in an interesting cafe in a glassed in exterior section that made a nice bright place to eat. We then viewed a special exhibition called 'The Glasgow Boys', a loose group of Scottish artists who worked in the late 1800s and early twentieth century. Their work and subject matter was similar to our Heidelberg school. Several artists were influenced by Japanese art just as the Impressionists had been. Melville did some vibrant, strong watercolours of Italy. It was an interesting exhibition of Scottish pioneering artists whose work I had not previously encountered.
We needed a break after this so had afternoon tea in the grand hall. An organist provided wonderful music on the huge pipe organ for our enjoyment. The museum also has quite a good collection of Dutch, French and Italian art, however, their famous Dali painting was holidaying, on loan to another institution. Afterwards we wasted time taking wrong turns but eventually got back to our hotel to collect our luggage and then caught another bus to Queen St station for our trip to Dunblane.
Our stop at Dunblane was primarily to see where Piran had done his gap year but we had not expected such an enchanting town. We found a bus at the station and it took us to the Cathedral without charging. I think tourists are a bit of a novelty. Our B and B 'Chimes House is just delightful. Moira Campbell and her husband who farms Angus cattle are lovely. We have a room on the top floor- two flights of stairs overlooking the cathedral. Another bath and excellent facilities including full Scottish breakfast. Have had black pudding on several occasions, something I had forgotten since childhood. Our first night's tea was at The Dunblane Hotel which is a charming old time pub overlooking the river. Had wandered down the little main street on the way to the pub. This has the most fantastic looking pie shop as well as a quality jewellers and best of all many op/charity shops! Yesterday we mountaineered to Queen Victoria School so we have now seen the wonderful place where Piran worked. After this exercise Roger walked to the station while I did the shops. I bought a woollen jumper at one of the op shops and this was to prove fortunate as I needed an extra layer in the biting winds of Edinburgh Castle. The Queen was hosting a garden party in Edinburgh so the hop on hop off bus had to make some detours. It was good to see guests in their finery. We did the whole bus trip and then had lunch at Jenners, Edinburgh's main Department store. This was a beautiful building with an Art Deco glass domed roof and superb carving on the facade. We then took the bus to the castle and had an informative guided tour. We retuned to Waverley Station by bus for the train to Dunblane. We chatted to a lady who had been to the garden party. She was a gardener so was interested in what I did.
It is daylight so late that it was almost 8.00pm before we returned to Dunblane. The other pub had finished meals so we returned to the Dunblane Hotel to try other dishes on their menu. We also have a little pub under our B and B. This is called the 'Tappit Hen'. It doesn't serve food but had a great folk band playing. They were great so we had a real Scottish experience. A man next to us was working on his computer- he was a conductor of a youth orchestra that had a camp at QVS. He actually sang as a boy chorister at the opening of Coventry Cathedral. His father was an organist in St Mary's in Edinburgh. If you are looking for a quite, charming spot to stay in Scotland, Dunlane is for you. Free Internet at the library too. Have been hear since 9.00am. We are now off to do the galleries in Edinburgh before catching the train to Newcastle on Tyne.
All the best
love Jo and Rog

Glasgow

Have half an hour at a library below The Modern Art Gallery. Before we left Coventry visited the Transport Museum for a quick whizz around all the old bikes, cars buses and tractors. Caught our train to Birmingham News St. This was a regular train and stopped at all stations. It was only a short journey. Birmingham New Street, was just a short stop to change trains. Managed this without too much fuss and found our reserved seats to Glasgow. It was well worth the small extra expense to travel first class. We arrived in Glasgow at about 9.30pm but it is still daylight. The train travelled very fast but the green, rolling landscapes with crop or cattle was very picturesque, particularly as the mists drifted in. We arrived to light rain but after the heat of London we were not complaining. Our Hotel Alexander Thomson was quite close to Central Station in easy walking/wheeling distance. We were surprised when we opened our room- not only did it have a huge bedroom but a sitting room with a flat screen TV so we could have watched different programmes if we had wished. It also had a bath and iron - luxuries for a mid priced hotel.
We wasted a bit of time in the morning finding Tourist Information. When we did discover it we had to wait for it to open. With helpful directions we then caught the local bus to the Burrell Collection. This entailed a long walk through a wooded park but was well worth the effort. There is usually a courtesy bus but not on Sundays. We are not lacking in exercise. The Burrell Collection is that of one man - a canny Scot from a Shipping family. He donated this collection to Glasgow with provision that this be housed in a new building that must incorporate rooms from his house and include his collection of sections of ancient buildings etc. The resultant building is beautifully designed and I particularly liked the way the rear galleries where set right against the woodland so you had a wall of windows giving a green backdrop to all the ancient sculptures. We arrived just in time to have an outstanding guided tour by a most passionate and knowledgeable guide, Maeve Mc Guinn. This took over an hour and a half but was fantastic. She dealt mostly with his ancient sculptures, Asian ceramics and medieval tapestries. After lunch we admired the exquisite embroideries from the 17th - 19th centuries and then discovered a small but excellent painting section of Chardins, Manets, Degas and Cezanne. If you travel to Glasgow this is a must. Afterwards we had another walk to
the relatively nearby historic Pollok house. This had a beautiful formal garden with hedged parteres filled with vibrant begonias with the red and pinks complementing the greens. It is strange to see these beautiful flowers growing outside as in Ballarat, the Festival of my childhood, in which they were all admired behind glass. We then had the long walk to the bus - elephantitis is back again with ugly swollen ankles. We asked the driver to let us off in the city near George Square but he forgot so we did a long trip around suburban Glasgow - not a really attractive city. We eventually returned and hopped on the tourist hop on and hop off bus. This gave us a more attractive view of Glasgow and its new redevelopment. We had tea at 'Jamie's Italian' Jamie Oliver's restaurant in George Square. This had only been open for a week and was a new building behind an historic facade. The food was great and not overly expensive. We then caught the hop on bus home to watch the World Cup final in our lounge room. The best thing about Glasgow Modern Gallery was this computer.
We are now off to Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum.
love
Jo and Rog

Britrail, Coventry

Dear All,
Found this free computer at The Herbert Gallery in Coventry. Today is the start of our Britrail journey. We caught a taxi to St.Pancras to avoid lugging our big cases and to leave them in left luggage. We are touring with our wheelie cabin bags and a most useful zipped canvas bag that I used as a day pack. I had bought this for $5 from one of those cheap shops in Swanston Street after a visit to my fincial planner. It was so much better than the Botanica back pack that would have filled the case and its black and white design of Australian place names or black side matched all my clothes. I discovered it was easier to walk to Euston station than get the tube. We were early so decided to take an earlier train than we had planned. First class is the way to go. We will easily make up the difference between second class with our free drinks, biscuits and chips. It is so good to be a Senior with all the discounts. The train whizzes along. We were in Coventry just after 9.00am. Have always wanted to see Coventry Cathedral and it even exceeded my expectations. The new Cathedral and the Gothic ruin compliment each other. It is hard to believe that this new structure was built in the 1960s. Their is a poignant memorial in the apse of the shattered church with a cross made up of charred wood with the wall behind engraved with 'Father Forgive' which apparently a priest had written in chalk
at the time. The new Cathedral uses the traditional Gothic plan but the effect is exciting. The Baptistry has a huge stained glass windows composed of rectangular shapes with smaller irregular shaped panels of glass with sections of the same hue. The central section is yellow in the with vibrant lower section like a garden and blue above and circular shapes on the side. The overall effect is stunning. This is set off by a clear entry wall of glass with etched figures and jaunty angels. This was the work of a NZ artist, John Hutton. We had booked a tour of the Cathedral at 11.15am so had an initial look around until the Herbert Gallery opened at 10.00am. A lady at the desk enabled us to leave our bags with her as neither the train nor bus station had lockers in the age of terrorism. The gallery is a wonderful airy modern
building. It has a fantastic shop and I have been good for the Coventry economy. Before our tour we viewed a fantastic contemporary exhibition. entitled 'From Here to There' which included a bed by Tracy Gilbert and George drinking gin. Our cathedral tour was outstanding.
We returned to the Gallery for lunch in the cafe and to see some more exhibitions including one of Lady Godiva. There is also some excellent sculpture. Heading to Glasgow soon - this will be our longest trip. Roger has just returned from looking at a photographic exhibition of canal boats that he found uninteresting. Better stop. Don't know when you will learn of the wonders of our garden tour but it was fantastic from beginning to end. May have to complete the last five days at home.
Having a great time
All is well
love Jo and Rog

Back in London catching up on blog

Dear all,
Am very behind - almost bought the computer at my last effort in Bath.
Finished tour today with a trip from Bath to Hampton Court Palace for the Hampton Court Flower and Garden Show. It was an incredibly hot day c 33 degrees and announcements were coming over all the time to drink plenty of water. Similar announcements were also happening on the tube. The heat wave must be a rarity here.
I think all of London was at the garden show - the crowds were huge. It was too busy for us all to stay together so Roger mostly sat in a shady spot while I explored more. The floral displays where they sold plants and bulbs was excellent and housed in a huge air conditioned marquee. There were thousands of stall but these were not much use to travellers. There was also a shopping marquee with quality goods - clothing, jewellery painting stalls and even a place for tasting Brown Brothers wines. The display gardens were mixed as were the small gardens. This was enough for me - no need to see Chelsea. Pictures on line will be fine. Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show is just about an achievable size for me. In retrospect -this was the one event that I did not enjoy. Last night Julie was talking of smaller gardens closer to London that are worth seeing. I would have preferred this or a visit to Kew Gardens. ( I had wrongly assumed we were visiting Kew Gardens as part of the tour so did not visit this on our time in London.) I have been there in the seventies so it was not too disappointing. Botanica could then make The Hampton Court show an additional extra. Margaret didn't come to the show as we farewelled her in Bath to reunite with Jim who had visited a cousin in Salisbury. Our numbers continued to decline as Jan and Robert left the coach soon after we left the Hampton Court show. This left Roger and I and two guides. Just before the coach pulled into Harrington Hall it passed our street so we too saved ourselves a couple of blocks of walking by jumping off early. The bus returned to Harrington Hall with Sara, our brilliant guide, Julie the botanical expert, Phil the driver and no passengers returned to Harrington Hall. This was ironic as I think we all thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the tour and had no complaints at all. It was such a small group and everyone was really lovely and we hope to keep in touch in the future. We arrived back at Henley House Hotel in quick time as it was very easy as we only had to wheel our cases less than half way that we had done on the first day. We then decided to check our moves for the next day. We took a couple of trains to Euston station but this will be too difficult with cases. Have decided to order a taxi as this will save a lot of energy as it is quite a long way even if we take the Piccadilly line to St.Pancras. Have decided to leave our luggage at St.Pancras rather than Euston as this is close to where our train from York arrives. This will be much easier so am pleased I thought of it after tea. Gwen will be glad to know that we dined at Le Pain Quotidien that she had recommended. I had spotted it on the day we had arrived at St.Pancras on the Eurostar from Paris. This helped me plan our decisions for the start of our Brit Rail journey. We now have tickets booked for tomorrow's trains so shall arrange a taxi for the morning. Hope to return to finish where I left the blog in Oxford. Unfortunately the memory gets a bit blurred but will do my best.

Cheers
Jo and Rog

Botanica 2

Dear All,

Catching up. No Internet cafes open after tea last night. We had a lovely walk around Bath but no joy as regards blogging. £7 an hour at the Hilton! This morning have travelled to Dorset to Hestercombe gardens and returned via rustic roads through Street and hippy Glastonbury. We are back in Bath. Roger is resting before tea so catch up time for blog.
On our second day, last Thursday we visited Wakehurst Place gardens, an adjunct of Kew Royal Botanic gardens. These are vast gardens creating remarkable landscapes with gigantic deciduous trees so much older than those in Australia. They have numerous walks through out the gardens and wooded areas. The Iris pond was spectacular. This area appeared a wilderness of colour and foliage. We came to an area where several wisterias had been trained to form a canopy like a giant market umbrella. We have since seen this used in several places. Around the huge manor house there were herbaceous borders combined with a variety of roses. Climbing roses on beautiful old walls have been a feature of most gardens. There was also a formal
walled garden with a colourful array of very healthy plants that are so much taller than their counterparts in Australia. We lunched in the stables that had been converted into a pleasant restaurant and we enjoyed the sit. These gardens are also the home of the Millennium Seed Bank housed in a very modern building with laboratories on view and photographs and sculptures inspired by seeds. The seed bank
aims safeguard 24,000 plant species by 2010. At the front of this building was a series of plantings showing the diverse plant groups from particular habitats in UK.
After this visit we ventured closer to home to the Romantic garden of Scotney Castle. The beautiful house,(not a real castle) was open to the public. It was as if the owner had just gone out for the day although she had died a couple of years ago and the property is now owned by the National Trust. The title castle refers to the ruined building beyond the house and gardened quarry which had been the source of stone for the building. A father and son had both died from lead poisoning so this
castle was abandoned by the rest of the Hussey family to become the beautiful folly it is now. This garden was such an oasis on a hot day. The planting in the ruin of the castle were stunning. There were many glorious vistas and serpentine lines throughout and it was a place of great serenity. We returned to our grand hotel - the best of the tour at about 4.00pm. I was let off at The Pantiles where I had seen a camera shop. I had filled my memory card! Ended up buying a new one with far more
capacity. I also had my first made into a Cd so we now have a spare card for the future. The Pantiles is a very attractive shopping area and while I was waiting for the Cd had a quick look around saw the Gallery that Caroline had mentioned in London but it was closed. I was thrilled to have my camera ready to go and the shop keeper was so helpful. Walked up a steep hill to our hotel but the area beside the road was very wooded and it was interesting to see the natural vegetation. We were bussed out for tea at a charming Italian restaurant at High Rocks which gave us another experience of the area. We slept like logs in our huge bed as did the others. Day three we headed to Hever Castle,13th century moated castle which was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. In the early 20th century it was bought by the Astor family. They made substantial renovations to restore the house and garden including constructing a huge lake. There are over thirty acres of formal gardens including many Greek and Roman treasures such as giant columns and sculptures. The vista through the colonnade at the Lake is very beautiful and the rose garden is just an abundance of colour and perfume. Parts of the castle have been renovated during the Astor residency and these are beautiful homely rooms though no longer authentic to the time they were built. Astor also built a mock Tudor village behind the castle for additional accommodation. This was tastefully done but to me the newly constructed octagonal structures that formed the shops and restaurant ruined the vista of the castle from the entrance from the bus park. After lunch we headed to Sissinghust,the famous garden created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson. We first viewed this garden from great height by climbing the tower past her study to the top. These stunning views clearly revealed the formal elements. The warm garden in particular looked fabulous from here contrasted with the dark trimmed cypress trees and hedges. There was an exhibition of a couple of artists' paintings of the garden or study and it was mentioned that this was part of a National Trust
scheme for contemporary artists to depict historic homes and gardens. On the way out I showed a Trust worker my paintings of Cloudehill - unfortunately her boss wasn't around but she took details and I will look into it further when I return. Perhaps this could be the focus of the next trip! I loved this garden it was so lushly planted. I couldn't get over the huge light greyish thistles that added so much contrast- these would probably turn to weeds in Australia. I loved the coloured rooms more than the famous white one and find it hard to relate to the meadows which
mostly look like a pile of weeds- imagine the snakes in all this long grass in Australia.We returned back to Tunbridge Wells for another beautiful meal in grand style. This was our last night so packing was our next task.
On our way to Oxford we visited another garden connected to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Wisley is a huge garden- 250 acres. The first area of interest was the very formal rectangular water garden with colourful waterlilies enhanced by the paving and the grand building. Everything was on such a large scale. The herbaceous borders were huge. There were sections of vegetable and herb gardens, orchards, hot houses, meadows, trial gardens, garden designs and much more. It was a special berry weekend so we were distracted to sample a range of different fruit. The hot houses were newly constructed and gigantic. Inside tropical plants cascaded like curtains and although it was most impressive I feel it will improve even more with time. Beyond the hot house was the first beautiful meadow I have seen - it was so colourful and although many plants were weeds this didn't seem to matter. This was the only garden we did on this day. We arrived at Oxford and settled into our much smaller room- similar to our cheaper Henley House in Earl's Court (though this one had a bath). There was not much room to hang washing or deal with cases. Afterward we did a walk with Sara, our very knowledgeable guide. Our dinner was excellent and the restaurant
was very attractive as well. Sunday we had a later start as Blenheim Palace didn't open early. So after our buffet breakfast I walked around the nearby Botanical gardens and discovered a street that was closed for a festival. Unfortunately I did not get back to explore. Blenheim Palace was more a landscape than a garden and had the qualities of created vistas of lakes and trees associated with Capability Brown. The size of the trees and the vast scale of views are set off by the magnificent palace that trace the significance of The Churchill/Spencer families over the years. I was interested to see Winston Churchill's paintings- he was very skillful and his many studies were freely executed. Everything is so lavish and differing rooms were furnished in particular colour schemes with the furnishings echoing the colours of the walls. The library is the most impressive room. It overlooks the Italian water garden and houses a most decorative large organ as well as thousands of books on different levels. Roger was really fascinated with this palace and spent much time chatting with the guides and telling of his links with the Spencers. We returned to Oxford for a free afternoon but this will have to be finished at my next blogging session as I am meeting the others for tea. Tonight we are not catered for so will have to make decisions.
Cheers
Jo and Rog

Botanica Tour 1

Dear all,
We are now in Oxford well into the tour but this blog looks back to the start of this stage of our journey. It has been so exciting for me to see so many remarkable gardens.
We are so fortunate with our UK guide Sara. She is so knowledgeable and fits in well with everybody. Roger and I successfully negotiated wheeling our luggage from Henley House in Barkston Gardens to Harrington Hall, a much classier establishment a few blocks away. We met at 8.45 am and were surprised at the small numbers on the tour. We were so fortunate that it hadn't been cancelled.
Our small Mercedes coach enables us all to have a couple of seats and spread out. The first morning was spent having a guided tour through London. This enabled us to see much which we had missed. We walked to Buckingham Palace and on the way saw the beautiful sculptured reliefs that commemorated the life of the Queen Mother. The Queen is in Canada at the moment. Walked past Buckingham gate where I stayed in the 70s and past St James Park which is looking quite dry. The rest of our tour was viewed on bus but we travelled through Knightsbridge and around Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square and down the Strand to St Paul's where we had lunch in the crypt. We then viewed the new developments at Docklands and saw landmarks such as London Bridge and the start of redevelopment for the London Olympics. We travelled on the Motorway till we reached our first garden - Great Dixter, the famous garden of Christopher Lloyd. This featured clipped hedges like science fiction shapes standing out from unkempt meadows. Attractive borders of colourful plants surrounded
the house with its distinctive striped architecture. Christopher Lloyd was regarded as the wild boy of horticulture and he delighted in breaking established rules. We also viewed the interior of his house which was furnished with a weird eclectic mix of contemporary hand crafted furniture with antiques. To me this was not a successful mix and pieces seemed plonked rather than thoughtfully arranged. After lavender ice-cream and a quick sketch we travelled in Kent to The Spa hotel in Tunbridge Wells near the Pantiles. This is an area that I have known of only through Marguerite's many travels to this area as her home base with friends in UK. This hotel was very grand built in the time when it was fashionable take the waters. We dined in style in a majestic dining room with very large arched windows draped with exquisite curtains. The food matched the surrounds and culminated with my favourite Summer pudding. The bedroom and the bed in particular was huge. We had a bath which was most helpful for my swollen ankles. We slept like logs. Breakfast the next morning was a grand buffet as well as the traditional English cooked fare. Just as well we are doing lots of walking.
The Internet cafe is closing hopefully there will be an update for you tomorrow. We have seen some superb garden, particularly
Hidcote today which is my favourite spot so far.
love
Jo and Rog

Last day in London from Oxford

Dear All,
Long time no blog! We have been staying in quality hotels but there is no computer access. The Botanica tour is fantastic. Only two other couples, a UK blue badged guide and a botanical expert- a gardener from Diggers Heronswood and originally from London. This is like being on a grand tour of old. The other passengers are lovely people so all is well.
Didn't get a chance to complete the blog of our last day in London so that is tonight's effort. We set off early aiming to cram much into our last day. Took our usual C3 bus from Earl's Court. On route was distracted by a couple of Op shops but no treasures to be found. On the way home the previous evening had seen the Saatchi Gallery known for its avant garde works. We visited this soon after it opened. It was such a bright spacious gallery and though some works were challenging we both really enjoyed the experience. Afterwards we took the bus to Westminster Abbey for a mid day communion service as we missed out on the previous evening's Evensong. There was no singing but it was a lovely simple service. We spotted one of the de Carteret graves, a seven year old son of one of Roger's famous relatives who was an advisor to the King. We were asked to leave and join the queue for tourists and pay to have a longer viewing with an audio tour. Once again our Senior cards came in handy. We whizzed around the Abbey as we had much else to do but Roger found his graves of interest. We then had lunch at The National Gallery of London and spent time with paintings from the 18th century and beyond. There were many exciting works particularly the Romantics, Impressionists and Post Impressionists. We then bussed to St.Paul's where we went on a longish walk to the Barbicon Centre to see The Surrealist House an exhibition that showed the spaces important to Surrealists and their predecessors and followers. It included film, paintings drawings and sculpture including many well known works. It was unsettling but well worth booking the tickets. To complete our evening we heard a performance of Haydn's 'Creation' at St.Paul's. Our seats were a long way back but the sound was wonderful and just being in the Cathedral was thrilling. We caught the No 11 bus to World's end. We were amazed that this bus went as far as St.Paul's as it made our travels easy. Caught C3 bus to complete our journey back to our hotel. We then packed preparing for our early start to commence our tour in the morning.
We were delighted with our sojourn in London.

All the best
Jo and Rog



Jo and Rog

London Tuesday

The blog continues from our V and A excursion in the afternoon. This museum is huge and mind boggling. Did the British rooms from 1500 - 20 th century. The galleries included recreated rooms of stately houses, furniture, decorative arts and some paintings. A room of innovative design since the 50s was quite nostalgic. An installation of squashed musical brass instruments in a circular space between floors was a bit of fun. I was exhausted so probably didn't do justice to this museum. It was over 30 degrees and the English were paddling in fountains. Walked from V & A to Royal Albert Hall. This was a fair stroll in the heat but we arrived early so had a large bottle of sparkling mineral water to revive us before going to our booked dinner in the Elgar room. Food was pretty ordinary but we sat beside Elton John's red piano and looked at paintings of various celebrities who had performed there. We went to our middle priced seats in the fantastic circular auditorium and were offered a free upgrade to better seats. Come on Melbourne you should do this too. Anyway rather than being in the circle we moved to the stalls very close to the action. The Grand Organ Gala presented all the 'crowd pleasers' showing the magnificence of the 10,000 pipes. The thunderous rumble was thrilling. The London Philharmonic Choir of approx 150 singers sang beautifully works such as Handel's 'Zadok the Priest' and 'The Hallelujah Chorus' and 'The Easter Hymn' from Cavalleria Rusticana and then we were asked to join them in 'Land of Hope and Glory' so we have now sung at The Royal Albert Hall. Chatted to people around us. It was such a uplifting concert and the soprano soloist Lee Bisset had a glorious voice, singing Faure's 'Pie Jesu' and more. The organ and orchestral works were well known favourites and showed the virtuosity of the musicians. The concert was conducted by Robin Stapleton with organists Stephen and John Birch, who some of you may know. It was still light at the end of the concert. Didn't want to go home on the tube so with the help of many found a bus along Kensington High St to Earl's Court Rd and we walked home from there. In the end we had the whole bus looking after our interests. It was a fantastic first day in London. Next morning we had an excellent buffet continental breakfast in a lovely light conservatory - breakfast room. Chatted to a mother and daughter from Perth. The girl had just finished Year 12 and studied Art and Drama. We had booked tickets to The Henry Moore exhibition at Tate Britain and this was fantastic to see particularly following on from our time with Rodin in Paris and at the V and A. The audio commentary was very thorough. We did the Turner again. These famous artists were so prolific. Although energy waning quickly flitted around a survey of British art. One contemporary artist Fiona had two giant war planes that had been superseded. They were polished to a gleaming silver or buffed to a mellow patina both aeroplanes were suspended as giant sculptures. Had tea and a sandwiches and then found a bus to Piccadilly Circus. We were kicked of the bus not too far from our destination as a bike hit the bus and the irate driver stopped and called the police while the cyclist took phone photos of the driver. We had to get off in the middle of the intersection as the driver was going nowhere until the police came. I am not really sure what happened but no one was hurt but both parties were not happy.
We were early to meet Caroline Sleigh, Valerie and Kevin' daughter. They are the wonderful people who have commissioned me to paint their stunning garden in Gisborne and Caroline had started the process by purchasing the voucher to have a garden painted which I had donated to Ovcare in of Teresa. I had about an hour to fill so went to the 2010 Summer Exhibition at The Royal Academy. Roger was happy to sit in the courtyard with the giant rabbit sculptures. The exhibition was huge but beautifully hung. The galleries were very light and bright showing off the work to their best. The majority of works were huge. Some rooms were filled with vibrant works while other showed monochromatic works. There were artist books, print making, sculptures and architectural designs as well as paintings. Caroline
rang to say she was running late so had time to look at some of the food displays and the craft work atFortnum and Masons. We had a lovely time with Caroline who is in between jobs as a lawyer and has been working in London for a couple of stints. She is a beautiful girl and we had such a relaxing time indulging in a typically English High Tea in great style. Afterwards we walked to Westminster Abbey for evensong. Unfortunately, we discovered it was at 5pm not 6pm as I had read on the Internet. Instead we did The London Eye which was close. After our great experience in Singapore we had bought tickets to the London version on the Eurostar to avoid queuing. There are so many buildings in London that the views from great heights were probably not as impressive as in Singapore. Afterwards we walked across The Millennium Bridge and then returned to our hotel via Bus 11 and C3. (Our Bus 11 stop was World's End- what a name for a place!) Shall use this route to go to the Saatchi as I luckily noticed it on our way home. Yesterday evening, we checked the distance from Henley House to Harrington Hall and we will be able to walk there for our tour if it is fine. Now off for a busy day. The rain seems to have cleared but will take our raincoats. It is still hot and humid.
All the best
Jo and Rog

London Monday

Dear All
Not the greatest tragedy but I lost my address book at Gare du Nord. Was rushing to finish some post cards before the train departed to use the many French stamps I had bought previously. There was no post box so a lady at Eurostar said she would post them for me and I think I must also have given her my little address book anyway it was not with me on the train. If you would like a post card it is now up to you to email me your address and post code. Luckily, so far there have been no other catastrophes touch wood! Sorry forgot we nearly had a problem with me washing my Paris travel card. Fortunately it was in its folder and although the folder suffered badly the card worked once it had dried out.
Our French sojourn was fantastic and we found everyone so helpful. Helene was marvellous and we highly recommend 'Paris Oasis'. Thanks in particular to Maggie, Lyn and Gwen for their very useful suggestions. Our Eurostar seats were a little disappointing as we had only a partial view from our window. (I economized on 2nd class seats and possibly this was a mistake). However, we made up for this by spending a fair amount of time in the buffet car. The train whizzed along by the green French countryside with the occasional quaint cottage or wind farm. The chunnel section was noted only by darkness. The beauty of the train was that we arrived in central London - with our passport check in completed in France. St. Pancras is a bright modernized station with great acces for travellers. Outside the station has a magnificent Neo Gothic facade but inside it is light and bright. We purchased a three day travel card and headed to Earl's Court. There were no stairs to contend with and Earl's Court was on the Piccadily Line with no necessity to change trains. We were delighted to find that our hotel was so close that we could wheel our cases without difficulty and did not need a taxi. Henley House is a lovely little hotel with all you need - a small but clean bedroom excellent breakfast in a bright conservatory type room and access to a computer. It is also in walking distance from Harrington Hall.
We made the most of Day 1 in London. After getting access to our room we took the underground to South Kensington and the Museums. It was quite a long walk through the tunnels so since then we have mostly used buses if we are not walking. Have walked many miles and my swollen ankles and blotchy rash on my legs tell the tale.
We went to The Grace Kelly exhibition at The V and A. Some of her clothes were just beautiful while others were over the top and dated. The general area of fashion had some remarkable garments from all periods. The V and A is huge - overwhelming. We had a snack in the cafe with a pianist playing. The interior of this section of the building is very lovely with magnificent windows. However, the plastic tables and chairs do not do this justice. Have to finish now as reception is closing. Shall have to tell you about the magnificent organ and choral concert later.

love
Jo and Rog

Paris Friday and Saturday

This was an exhausting day! We set off to Musee Picasso only to find it has been closed since last year and will be so for another three years. The only compensation was that it was a lovely area with numerous private galleries. Found a lovely textiles shop with interesting gifts. We then caught a couple of trains to the Pompidou Centre and were pleased that the last train stopped very close to the Gallery. It was lunch time so had an expensive light lunch at Georges on the 6th level with stunning views of Paris. Afterwards we did the temporary exhibitions on this level. I was most impressed with the work of British artist Lucien Freud. The exhibition even included our Canberra work 'After Cezanne'. I was interested that he had several paintings of his garden. Roger was impressed by The Dreamland's exh that showed how architecture was inspired by the great expositions. Found the Elle exhibition overwhelming, The permanent collection is outstanding. Was sorry I did Elle first -Roger at least had the good sense to sleep or sit through that so was revived for the permanent exh. The sculptures looked fantastic set on water in areas beyond the exhibition space. The permanent collection is a wonderful record of 20th century work by many very well known artists. We just had enough energy to do the Brancusi studio near by. Caught a bus home for a picnic tea. I finished my little painting of Helene's beautiful garden. It is getting late and still have to finish packing.
Today did St Ouen's market. It was a combination of expensive antiques, interesting
memorabilia, bits and pieces, junk and cheap clothes. Bought a couple of inexpensive bits. Next went to Marmottan Musee; fantastic exh linking Monet with Abstract art. His late works are so inspiring and interesting seen beside the likes of Kandinsky, Pollock and Krazner etc. Afterwards took a most interesting bus trip that ended at the Seine. Took a boat trip to end our Paris sojourn. Found a bus to Gare du Nord. Had a cheap tea and came home to pack and blog. The end of blogging in Paris
Cheers Jo